Samson
by goingmywaydoll
Summary: Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads but they're just old light, they're just old light. Your hair was long when we first met. T for character death


A/N: Wow, this is really different than anything I've ever written. It's really angsty, so beware. It involves cancer and death, so make sure you read some fluff after this because it's going to make you want to cry. I don't _want_ to give Percy cancer. I just had an idea I really wanted to write. I cried while writing it. I didn't put this in WiTS because it's better on it's own.

All rights reserved to Rick Riordan and Regina Spektor. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

_Samson went back to bed_

_Not much hair left on his head_

_Ate a slice of wonder bread, and went right back to bed_

* * *

When the doctor tells them, Percy pretends like nothing is wrong. He nods along with the doctor as he tells them treatment options and they go home.

"What about Chinese for dinner?" he asks. Annabeth gapes at him. "Maybe Thai?" He peruses the different take-out menus they have stocked up.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" she says softly. Her eyes are red from unshed tears.

"Nope," he says as if that's that and it doesn't matter that he's got cancer and he could die and she would be alone. It's so unlike _Percy_ to ignore the problem. He would try and fight it, like he always did. He never ignored something that was... not meant to be ignored.

"Nope?" she says, anger rising even though she can't help it. "That's what you say? Nope? 'Oh, no, Annabeth, let's not talk about my impending death." Her voice cracks on the word _death_ and she knows she shouldn't have said it but he's just being so infuriating. "Let's not talk about how one day, you won't be able to kiss me, to hold me, to fall asleep next to me. Let's not talk about how your strength will deteriorate. Let's not talk about how someday, everything that makes you _you_ will be gone. Let's have it that way."

She's struggling not to cry now and he puts down the menus.

"No, let's not! Because right now, I want to spend every last minute of my life with you! I don't want to talk about dying because I want to talk about living. With you. Even if it's for a short time and even if I'll be gone one day, I want to live my life until I can't," he says. "You're right. One day, I won't be able to be with you. And that breaks my heart. I can't think of you alone. I want to be with you for _your_ whole life, not just mine."

* * *

She drives him to the hospital for the first treatment. She drops in him off and gives him a slow, long kiss. The nurse tells her that this will take a while and she can go home, but she picks a comfortable seat and takes out her new book. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. She opens the first page and begins to read, barely even paying attention. Well into the first chapter, she realizes the book is about a teen girl with cancer. _Great_. She shoves it back into her bag and looks around the waiting room. A young girl and her mother are playing with blocks on the floor. The girl obviously does not understand where she is and why she is there. The woman has a sad, glazed look in her eyes as she watches her daughter (Annabeth assumes she's her daughter) play. Moments later, a frail looking woman comes out of the door Percy just went through. The woman playing with the child looks up.

"Mommy!" the child squeals as she runs towards the frail woman. The woman manages a smile and hugs her daughter. The woman who was playing with the girl walks over and kisses the woman who just walked out softly. They smile sadly at each other and walk to the desk to check out. They exit holding hands with their daughter.

* * *

It's well into his fifth session and there are no signs of improving. His sea green eyes are looking more dull green in his dwindling hope. But the worst part is that everything that makes Percy, _Percy_ is nearly gone. He rarely makes jokes anymore and they have stopped called each other by their nicknames. It's wearing Annabeth down. She finally understands what Percy meant the day the got the diagnosis. It seems he does not want to live up to that declaration now.

"The next Wrath of the Titans comes out soon. I thought we could go see it and make fun of the inaccuracies," Annabeth tries at a conversation.

"Whatever," he replies, picking at his chicken.

"Percy, talk to me, please," she says after a long silence. "I miss you. What happened to the fun, brave boy I fell in love with?"

"He got cancer, Annabeth," he snapped. She flinches away from him. Collecting the plates from the table and fighting the urge to cry, she brings the dishes to the sink. Moments later, his arms wrap around her waist.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," he says quietly in her ear.

"It's okay. You're under a lot of stress. I understand," she replies, turning away from the sink.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Their lips meet in a soft, comforting embrace. Her tears begin to fall and he hugs her into his chest. She tries in vain to stop crying, knowing she has to be strong for Percy.

"Don't ever leave me, Seaweed Brain," she murmurs into her shirt.

"Not if I can help it," he replies, kissing the top of her head. "Here, I'll help."

They do the dishes in silence for a while when Percy gets an idea. Smirking slightly, he splashes a bit of water towards Annabeth. Thinking it was a mistake, she ignores it. A bigger splash comes. She stiffens. He's trying not to laugh as he cups his hands full of water, and throws it at Annabeth.

"You did _not _just do that."

"I think I did."

She grabs a sponge and throws it at his shirt. His eyes widen as the soapy water soaks in and the sponge falls to the floor.

"I am gonna get you!" He fills a bowl with water and dumps it on her head. She purses her lips while water drips down her face. Her shirt is becoming wetter and wetter by the second. As cheesy as it sounds, time seems to slow as the smile fades from his face and he looks her in the eye. His green eyes retain their playfulness from moments ago but there is something deeper. He steps towards her, putting his hands on her waist. Although she won't admit it, Percy has to lean down to kiss her and he does so, sweetly and chastely. Her hand rests on his neck, playing with the ends of his hair lightly and her eyes flutter closed. After all these years, Percy's kisses still manage to take her breath away, loosing herself in the kiss. She coaxes open his mouth, taking control. Her hands fly to his hair now, knotting them in the dark curls. Their tongues battle for control and they walk towards the bedroom, lips still attached in a passionate embrace. She pushes him down on the bed and pulls his shirt off. He raises an eyebrow teasingly.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she mutters.

"Didn't say anything..." he replies, bring his lips to her neck.

* * *

Bright sunlight streams through the window, waking Annabeth up. They forgot to pull the shades down last night and the room is much to bright for her sleepy eyes. She pulls the sheets up to her neck, shivering slightly. She glances around the room quickly, trying and failing to find all her clothes from last night. Sighing, she turns around and watches Percy sleep. He's snoring slightly and she smirks. Running her foot up his leg, she says not so quietly in his ear, "Morning, sleepy head."

Percy shoots up, looking around. His eyes rest on Annabeth and he relaxes.

"Why'd you have to wake me up?" he whines and Annabeth rolls her eyes.

"It's late," she replies. "Already 11."

"Not that late," he mumbles. "I'm gonna take a shower."

He crawls out of bed and grabs his towel from it's place on the bathroom door. She hears the water turn on and aches to take the first shower. Deciding she can't wait, she gets up and grabs her towel. She steps into the shower with him. He looks at her questioningly but doesn't protest

* * *

Three weeks later, he's in the ICU. His condition's worsening and the doctor says he hasn't got much longer. Maybe a week or two. She prepares herself but it isn't working. They move him into a permanent room. Until he...

It's all happening so fast she can't even think. Sally and Paul visit with Kelsey. Kelsey's only four. She doesn't know what's happening to her half brother. She sits in the corner during the visits, furiously drawing something she won't let anyone see. She looks so much like Sally it's scary. And she adores her big brother so much. Annabeth plays with her while Percy and his mother talk. Apparently, some boy named Kevin is being mean to her. The teacher says it's because he likes her and Annabeth scoffs at this. Young girls are brought up to believe that when someone is mean, they like them. Why? Because they can't tell them the truth that maybe this boy just doesn't like who she is? She tells Kelsey to ignore Kevin and the teacher. The teacher is wrong and Kevin will stop when he realizes he isn't affecting her.

"Thank you," Kelsey says very seriously in her four year old voice. Kooky, loud and precocious, she reminds Sally of Percy.

* * *

It's been two weeks and Percy shows no change but the doctor says not to get their hopes up. Annabeth nods along with Sally and attempts to keep back tears. Old friends from Camp Half-Blood visit. Travis and Katie bring their little girl, Elizabeth. Chris and Clarisse come, Clarisse telling him to shut up and just get better. Chiron comes in wheelchair form, talking to Percy in private for a bit. Before he leaves, he pulls aside Annabeth.

"How are you?" he asks.

"Fine," she says, pretending to look optimistic. Chiron raises an eyebrow. "Not fine. I can't imagine living without him. I'm trying to keep it together for him and if I break down, he'll feel guilty or something noble like that. I can't go home because everything reminds me of him and my life after he.. After he..."

She bursts into tears and Chiron manages to give her a hug.

"Do not feel bad for crying. You are one of the strongest people I know, Annabeth. You have been through too much for your young age and now this? I'm not going to tell you that everything will be okay, because it won't. I'm not going to tell you that later, you'll be fine because right now, you're hurting and later is later. Now is now. Be brave, child." He presses a kiss to her forehead and wipes her tears. Later on, Grover and Juniper come to visit for a couple hours. Grover and Percy play poker for a bit and Juniper and Annabeth talk.

"How are you feeling?" Juniper asks.

"Not good but I'll survive."

Juniper doesn't say anything else after that, just hugging Annabeth, which is exactly what she needs. She doesn't want to talk about her feelings. She just wants silent support. Thankfully, Sally understands and does the same. Jason and Reyna pop in but it's awkward and quiet because Piper and Leo arrive almost directly after they did. Jason and Percy fist bump and Leo tries to make a joke. Piper still looks bitter about Reyna. After all, it was only a year ago that Jason left Piper for Reyna and they only got engaged a month ago. Reyna asks Annabeth to be a bridesmaid and Jason puts Percy in the wedding party, ignoring the fact he may be gone by then. They both accept. They say goodbye and Reyna pulls her into a tight hug. They feign brightness, saying they'll see them soon, even though they probably won't. Thalia and Nico and Rachel drop in. Thalia stays for the rest of the day until she says she has to get back to Artemis even though she wants to stay. And the guests are gone and Paul took Kelsey and Sally out to lunch and they are alone.

"I love you," he says, grasping her hand.

"I love you too," she replies, squeezing it.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm having trouble breathing."

"I'll call the doc-"

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"This is it."

"Percy, no, please, I'll call the doctor. You'll be okay."

"It's okay, Wise girl. I love you, okay? Gods, this is it, isn't it?"

"Oh gods, Percy, please don't go."

He's struggling to breath now and panting.

"I want it to be just me and you, okay. No doctors or family or friends."

"Don't be so cheesy."

"I knew you would say that, Owl Head."

"Kelp Head."

"Wise Girl."

"Seaweed Brain."

His hand goes slack in hers and she freezes.

"No," she whispers. "No! Nonononononononono! _Doctor! Doctor!"_

The nurses and doctors come running, pulling her away. But the heart monitor is beeping. It's over. He's gone. She collapses in the arms of the nurse holding her back. The room goes quiet except for her loud sobs. The nurse is whispering in her ear, stupid sayings like, "It'll be okay. You'll be okay. I know it hurts."

Chiron was right. Later is later. Now is now. And right now, it felt like the happiness had been sucked from her life.

* * *

The funeral was short. At Camp Half-Blood. His shroud was plain sea green. Nothing else. Simple. She spoke a few words, made a joke that she had already done his funeral but this one was so much harder because now, he was really gone. No one laughed.

She watched as the flames lapped up the shroud and listened Sally's sobs. Tear streaked faces surrounded her. It felt like she was suffocating. More sobs echoed around her and her breathing became shallow. She felt like she had to throw up. Getting up abruptly, she ran away from the pavillion, kicking off her heels as she made her way to the ocean. Looking out at the Long Island Sound, tears began to form in her eyes. She wiped them away, rolling her eyes. She had cried enough.

He was gone and she was here. How was that fair? How was it fair that people like terrorists and rapists and murderers got to live and he didn't. No one would remember them, after a while. Sure, they saved Olympus twice but after a while, they would just be names. _Every heard of Percy Jackson? The guy who saved Olympus but couldn't fight cancer?_ Mortals would forget him soon. Sally and Paul and Kelsey would die and the Jackson name would die out. Annabeth herself would be gone one day too, unable to carry his name on. The only person to remain would be his father. And even then, would Percy get lost in the sea of his other children? Probably.

_Jeez, Annabeth, listen to yourself_.

They had done something though, hadn't they? They prolonged the lives of so many. They prevented the Earth's demise. Eventually, it would be gone, just pieces of rock floating in space. But they helped it stay around a bit longer. They did something. She and Thalia and Reyna and Nico and Jason and Leo and Piper and Frank and Hazel and Percy. They did something, didn't they.

* * *

_Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down_

_Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one_

_And history books forgot about us_

_And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once_


End file.
